Prince Philip’s famously sharp tongue is once again making headlines after a forthcoming memoir revealed the late Duke of Edinburgh’s blunt reaction to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018.
According to former royal butler Grant Harrold, who served in the household of King Charles when he was Prince of Wales, Philip was deeply relieved when the highly publicised royal ceremony had drawn to a close. In an excerpt from his upcoming memoir The Royal Butler, Harrold recalled the moment the royal family filed out of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
“Once all the formalities were over, we watched as the happy couple, and then the other members of the Royal Family, filed out of the chapel,” Harrold wrote. “When Prince Philip came out, he turned to the Queen and said, ‘Thank f–k that’s over.’”
The revelation adds a new detail to one of the most scrutinised royal events of recent decades. The marriage of Prince Harry, then sixth in line to the throne, to Meghan Markle, a biracial American actress best known for her role in the television series Suits, represented both a historic and contentious moment for the monarchy.
The wedding itself was a global spectacle. Held on 19 May 2018, it was attended by 600 invited guests, including world leaders, celebrities, and members of the royal family, with thousands more lining the streets of Windsor. An estimated 29 million people watched in the United States alone, while the BBC reported that nearly 18 million tuned in across the UK.
For the late Duke of Edinburgh, however, the pomp and ceremony may have been more exhausting than exhilarating. At 96 years old at the time, Philip had already stepped back from public duties the year before, after decades as consort to Queen Elizabeth II. The ceremony, steeped in tradition but featuring modern touches that highlighted Meghan’s background, marked one of his last major public appearances.
Harrold’s claim that Philip uttered the terse four-word comment as he left the chapel has reignited debate about the Duke’s candid nature. Throughout his life, Philip was known for his biting wit, occasional bluntness, and sometimes controversial remarks. Royal biographers have often described him as both fiercely loyal to the institution of the monarchy and deeply sceptical of excessive pageantry.
The Duke’s apparent relief at the wedding’s conclusion does not necessarily indicate disapproval of the couple, however. Other accounts suggest Philip made efforts to welcome Meghan into the family. Royal author Ingrid Seward told Us Weekly in 2021 that Philip “was very welcoming to Meghan because, of course, she was a newcomer and a very different newcomer.”
Yet Philip’s involvement in what later became known as “Megxit” was minimal. He had retired from active public life and, according to Seward, “didn’t see very much of Meghan at all [and] didn’t really have a chance to form a relationship with her.”
After Harry and Meghan announced in early 2020 that they would step back as senior royals and relocate to California, Philip largely refrained from public comment. Biographer Gyles Brandreth reported that Philip’s private reaction was characteristically pragmatic. “It’s his life,” he reportedly said of Harry. “I’ll soon be out of it and not before time.”
Brandreth also noted that Philip viewed Harry as “a good man” and sympathised with his need to “do things his own way.”
Despite his personal reservations about the ceremony’s scale or its aftermath, Philip’s support for his grandson appeared genuine. The Duke of Edinburgh, who himself married into the royal family as an outsider, may have had some appreciation for Meghan’s challenges.
Still, Harrold’s new anecdote paints a picture of Philip as a man unafraid to voice his frustrations in private, even at moments of national celebration. His remark, directed to the Queen, reportedly came as the newlyweds departed to waves of cheers from the crowds gathered outside Windsor Castle.
The memoir, The Royal Butler, is scheduled for release in September. Harrold, who has parlayed his time in royal service into a career as a commentator and etiquette expert, promises to provide fresh insights into life behind palace walls. His latest disclosure, though brief, underscores the tensions and candid humour that often characterised Philip’s life in the public eye.
The Duke of Edinburgh died in April 2021 at the age of 99. Following his death, Harry and Meghan issued a statement through their Archewell Foundation: “Thank you for your service … You will be greatly missed. In loving memory of His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh 1921–2021.”
The couple’s tribute came amid ongoing strains with the royal family, including Harry’s widely publicised rift with his brother, Prince William. That rift, many royal observers believe, was exacerbated by the fallout of Harry and Meghan’s decision to leave royal duties and by their subsequent interviews, including the explosive sit-down with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
Philip, according to those who knew him, preferred to remain on the sidelines of such disputes. “He thought it was madness, of course. He thought they were quite mad,” Brandreth wrote of Philip’s reaction to “Megxit.” “But he was very practical about it. He just said, ‘It’s his life.’”
For many, the late Duke’s blunt four-word aside at the wedding encapsulates both his personality and his position within the royal family: a man who spent his life fulfilling duty, often with dry humour, but who also recognised the human limits of pomp and tradition.
In the end, Prince Philip’s legacy was shaped not only by his decades of service alongside Queen Elizabeth II but also by his ability to cut through ceremony with sharp honesty. Harrold’s story adds yet another glimpse into a figure who, even in his later years, remained characteristically forthright.
And for those who knew him, his searing words at Harry and Meghan’s wedding were perhaps unsurprising. After all, the Duke of Edinburgh had long been a man who said what others only thought: “Thank f–k that’s over.”